Regional Network

The members of the Innovate MA Alliance have the vision, experience, and understanding to see the incredible potential to create jobs and grow the Massachusetts economy by investing in the the talent already here.

For example, UMass Lowell has one of three plastic engineering programs in the entire country. Westfield State boasts an urban education program. New Bedford is a leader in wind energy. Western Massachusetts has a history in advanced and precision manufacturing. The state recently built a green, high performance computing center in Holyoke that has already attracted companies. These are all elements of the economy of tomorrow; however, at present they are separated by a lack of high speed transit and high speed internet.

In order for Massachusetts to thrive in 2014 and beyond, we must support all our metro hubs and connect them to each other for the Commonwealth to fully harness our economic potential. We must overcome the divide of the 495 Beltway. The innovation ecosystem of Boston is often compared to Silicon Valley; it's an hour from San Francisco to Stanford, and from Stanford to San Jose. It's also an hour from Boston to Worcester, and from Worcester to Holyoke. But we act like a trip to Holyoke necessitates an overnight stay in a hotel room.

Only by investing in infrastructure that connects all our metro hubs and gateway cities can Massachusetts truly compete with other hubs of innovation.